One of the most progressive bands in North Texas, Cleanup has just finished recording its debut album at Fort Worth Sound with producer Tanner Landry that will be mixed by Phil Martin and mastered by Dan Millice. To bring Sun Life to the masses by April, guitarist Landon Cabarubio, bassist/vocalist Kyle Harding, and drummer Riley Pennock have started a crowd-funding campaign. Their relatively modest goal of $4,000 will cover not only mixing, mastering, and pressing (and distribution via Holy Hell, a newish Florida label) but also the purchase of a touring van. Contributions range from $8 for a digital download of Sun Life to $50 for a vinyl combo pack (digital download, vinyl, a Cleanup koozie, and a hand screen-printed Cleanup t-shirt) to $500 for all of the above signed plus a signed goodie bag and your name in the liner notes. The band is about a quarter of the way home, and there are only a few hours left until the deadline.
So, I hear you saying, some local band’s looking for money –– BFD. But if you know anything about local music you know that Cleanup is the real deal. The trio’s brand of knotty, abstract math-rock is sui generis: intricate yet catchy, heavy yet lighter than air. And based on “Cruiser,” the lone Sun Life song floating around the interwebs, Cabarubio and company seem to be going in an Afro-pop direction, with lots of bubbly, effervescent, percussive guitarwork and rumbling, tribal drums. Sunny and lively, indeed. Fort Worth needs more of this. Help make it happen.
Cleanup’s next local show is Friday, Feb. 28, as part of DIY Day, a daylong festival featuring about 30 (mostly local) bands and a few food vendors at 1116 Hawthorne Ave. on the Near Southside.
Curtis Heath in Recovery
After recently being diagnosed with melanoma, The Theater Fire multi-instrumentalist Curtis Heath underwent some intense treatment. He’s cancer-free now. “Things are going well,” he writes in an e-mail. “I’ve had some setbacks but nothing major. No evidence of new cancer. I go back in March for another round of tests.”
To help him pay his sizable medical bills, members of the North Texas music community have thrown three local benefit concerts. So far they’ve raised about $9,000 or, Heath said, about 75 percent of his overall medical expenses. “Between the benefit shows, low-interest credit cards, and Obamacare, I’ve been able to keep my head above water,” he said.
The most recent fund-raiser for him was last weekend at The Live Oak Music Hall & Lounge with Heath’s band plus The Baptist Generals, Dark Rooms, and Priya and Andy. Heath and his bandmates busted out some material from their upcoming, long-time-in-the-making sophomore album, songs that Heath said are “more technically challenging” than Theater Fire’s earlier work. “But it went off without a hitch,” he said, adding that the turnout was great and “the performances excellent.”
The new album, he said, is mostly done: “I think it’s safe to say it’ll be ready by summer.”
Contact HearSay at hearsay@fwweekly.com.
